The annual Via Satellite 10 Smallsat Startups to Watch list highlights companies from around the world in the early stages of funding (Series A or earlier) that are on the rise. These companies may have piqued investors’ interest, secured key contract wins, or reached a technology milestone.
This year’s list features a range of startups focused on defense capabilities, satellite data relay, space domain awareness (SDA), interesting applications of AI, and in-orbit computing. Now in its fifth year, 10 Smallsat Startups to Watch has highlighted 50 companies since it began in 2022.
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APOLINK
Apolink is working to solve the challenge of downlinking satellite data by building what it calls the most interoperable satellite relay network. Its technology is a hybrid of optical inter-satellite links and radio frequency (RF) designed to enable backwards-compatibility with legacy satellite systems, to provide real-time data relay. The company, based in Palo Alto, California, raised a $4.3 million oversubscribed seed round last year. Founder Onkar Singh Batra was just 19 when he founded the company, but Apolink wasn’t the first time he grabbed headlines in the space industry. He previously built India’s first open-source satellite while in high school. Apolink just hit a major milestone of launching its first demonstration satellite, IPoS (Interoperability Protocol over Satellite) on the SpaceX Transporter-17 mission this July. This satellite will demonstrate its backward-compatible RF relay.
The company has some notable partners as well. It recently signed an MoU with Space Compass and JSAT to study concepts for potential Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)-Geostationary Orbit (GEO) optical inter-satellite links for interconnectivity between Apolink’s future constellation in LEO and Space Compass’s GEO-based optical data relay service. It’s also partnering with established ground station company RBC Signals to use the company’s ground segment services and have RBC Signals serve as a reseller of its relay services. This startup has the potential to impact the bottleneck around satellite data downlink.
ASTROLIGHT
Lithuanian space and defense tech company Astrolight has been making big waves since the company was founded in 2019. Its CEO Laurynas Mačiulis already has an impressive pedigree as one of the co-founders of Lithuanian space startup NanoAvionics, which was sold to Kongsberg Group in 2022 for $67 million. Astrolight could be the next big success story to come from the Lithuanian space industry. Astrolight is aiming to develop unjammable, undetectable, high-bandwidth laser communication for multi-domain operations. With secure, interference-resistant communication systems seen as essential for defense operations in space, sea, air and on the ground, Astrolight’s laser communication technology could provide NATO a secure alternative to conventional radio frequency communications, which are vulnerable to electronic warfare attacks.
It has had some impressive recent milestones. Late last year, it demonstrated undetectable and unjammable laser-based communication and data transmission with its Polaris terminal during a NATO exercise held in Latvia, on NATO’s Eastern flank, highlighting how the latest technologies can enhance battlefield capabilities in the region. The company is preparing to demonstrate its ATLAS-1 terminals in orbit for the first time. These terminals will enable secure, high-bandwidth space-to-ground communication on two satellites in the PeakSat mission. Astrolight will also provide terminal hardware for the European Space Agency’s HydRON Element 3 program. It is clearly a company to watch and already taking part in key trials and it could provide key technologies to help organizations like NATO and others.
CONSTELLR
The German space industry has a number of exciting new companies on the rise. Constellr, a thermal imaging company launched in 2020 in Freiburg could be one to watch. It launched a first thermal sensor to the International Space Station in 2022 to prove the technology, then began deploying its operational HiVE constellation. SkyBee-1 was launched in early 2025, followed by SkyBee-2 in the middle of last year. Thermal satellites can see heat patterns: human activity, infrastructure load, and environmental stress, and that heat is an indicator of activity. It can reveal climate damage like urban heat islands, irrigation performance and crop stress before it is visible. For defense purposes, heat reveals activities of assets like critical infrastructure. Thermal can detect day and night time activity especially in hard to monitor environments like the Arctic or at sea.
Constellr is also pursuing a constellation-as-a-service (CaaS) model will enable institutional clients to access satellite data and tasking services on demand without owning infrastructure. Owning and operating a thermal constellation is a costly exercise, this model aims to turn that into a subscription. The company has ambitious plans. Its next satellite SkyBee-3 is slated to launch in the third quarter this year. Beyond this, a new generation is planned from 2028 onwards, with improved sensor specifications, aimed at sub-5-meter resolution, a sharp step up from the current 30 meter, to support sovereign intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services for governments and militaries. As governments increasingly invest in sovereign space capabilities, thermal intelligence could become an essential layer alongside optical and SAR imagery.
EDGX
A number of new space AI companies are beginning to emerge. In Ghent, Belgium, one such company that is starting to make waves is EDGX. This is a company that raised 2.3 million euros ($2.7 million) in funding last year, with this funding being used to accelerate the commercialization of EDGX Sterna, a next-generation edge AI computer for satellites. EDGX will focus on the entire supply chain of large constellation projects, which includes satellite operators, manufacturers, and payload developers. In addition, it also wants to serve startups and universities that have ambitious projects and exciting use cases, because many of these will grow into larger satellite missions in the future.
In May this year, the company saw its Nvidia-powered compute system, STERNA, go into orbit onboard two spacecraft, a key milestone for the company. The next step for the company will be to scale the system in orbit, and then build out a compute layer in space. The company hopes to start announcing customer deals this year. The aim of STERNA is to bring the power of Earth-class AI processing into a space-qualified envelope. From the developer’s side, EDGX wants everything to feel familiar and well-documented, and from the space side, the aim will be for STERNA to have the reliability and resilience needed for missions.
FORTASTRA
Space startup Fortastra is preparing for a future where there’s more aggressive activity in orbit, working to build intelligent spacecraft that can see, understand, and maneuver around their environment in orbit. This type of capability is only becoming more relevant after last year’s reports of China demonstrating “dogfighting” satellites in orbit, and the U.S. Space Force has been signaling the need for maneuverable assets on orbit. Fortastra is responding to the call for more capable, maneuverable, low-cost spacecraft. Founder Mike Smayda is a SpaceX alum who worked on aerodynamics for the reusable Falcon 9 first stage, then went on to co-found high-speed aircraft manufacturer Hermeus.
Fortastra is in the early stages with around 15 employees. The company came out of stealth mode in December with an $8 million seed round. But it is moving quickly, preparing to launch a pair of demonstration spacecraft in the fourth quarter of this year. Aiming to move even faster than it can iterate on orbit, the company purchased a robotic arm to be able to run demonstrations in its lab —testing sensors and iterating on the autonomy stack and perception. At this stage, the company is building a payload and purchasing buses, but will look toward more vertical integration as it scales up. The most near-term applications for its technology are in the defense area, but Fortastra sees its maneuverable spacecraft playing a role in infrastructure in the future space economy. As space becomes a more contested domain, Fortastra plans to be part of the response to secure it.
PANGEAI
The field of geospatial data and AI is an exciting one as more and more governments and commercial customers rely on this data. One startup that could be one to watch is PangeAI, a new company that emerged from stealth mode late last year. The company, which was founded by Johanna von der Leyen and Marek Miltner at Stanford, aims to make the Earth’s data as accessible as asking a question. It aims to broaden decision-making from just GIS experts and use PangeAI agents to provide the comprehensive analysis organizations need to make decisions based on geospatial data.
The AI geospatial data-based startup is targeting a variety of sectors such as defense/government, energy, agriculture, mining and aims to provide better decision-making tools based on geospatial data tools. It is already working with one of the largest Japanese insurance groups that is testing PangeAI to improve natural hazard risk scoring for properties. A leading global natural-capital investor is working with PangeAI to evaluate where nature-based solutions can deliver the most significant ecological and financial impact in South America. These are just two examples. The company wants to lead a revolution in AI-driven workflows that can optimize decision making based on geospatial data. While AI and geospatial seem natural companions, can a company like PangeAI turn decision-making workflows on its head?
PIERSIGHT
India is home to an increasingly vibrant space market. As companies like Pixxel and Skyroot Aerospace make a strong impact, PierSight, a new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) company founded in 2023 could be next. The company was founded by Gaurav Seth, a former ISRO scientist who built SAR payloads such as NISAR, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3. Seth is now applying those experiences to building PierSight. The startup is building SAR systems tailored to a single application rather than stretching one across every use case. The company has two products right now in development. It has Varuna, a SAR-AIS constellation for constant maritime surveillance, serving maritime agencies and naval operators. This is a constellation of 32 satellites purpose-built for this kind of monitoring. The next stage will be to launch the first satellite for this constellation. PierSight also has a product called Vidura, a drone-mounted SAR payload for foliage-penetrating surveillance. It has a number of trials planned for this product this year.
The company is also playing a key role in India’s first Earth Observation (EO) constellation. The startup was selected as part of a public private partnership consortium that includes Pixxel, Dhruva Space, and SatSure. PierSight will serve as the consortium’s SAR specialist. PierSight is currently in a Series A funding round as it looks to accelerate its satellite launches, expand its R&D, and advance its vision of SAR becoming the next layer of detection beyond sensors like RF. So, whether maritime surveillance, foliage penetration or playing a lead role in building India’s first major EO constellation, PierSight is a company on the rise.
REFLEX AEROSPACE
While some smallsat manufacturers learn toward standardization and mass production, Reflex Aerospace aims at high-end satellite platforms and customization, with speed. Co-founders Walter Ballheimer, Christian Lindener, and Alexander Genzel established the company in Munich in 2021 to design payload-centric buses that can be rapidly manufactured. The company’s niche is in sovereign satellite constellations providing optical, SAR, space domain awareness (SDA), and signal intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities. Last year, the company raised 50 million euros ($57 million) in its Series A round, which was one of the largest Series A funding rounds in the European space industry to date. Reflex Aerospace has a 200 square meter assembly floor in Munich, as well as 200 square meters in additional assembly space available. The company is expanding its production capabilities, increasing vertical integration of its components, and developing new partnerships in the European space industry.
The company built its first commercial satellite that launched in early 2025 built for Media Broadcast Satellite (MBS), and has also landed German startups LiveEO and Marble Imaging as customers. Another key example of its strength in the European market is its participation in a new alliance of German space companies led by the Rheinmetall Iceye Space Solutions joint venture to develop an independent reconnaissance capability for German defense. With Germany set to make large investments in space and defense capabilities, home-grown suppliers like Reflex Aerospace have a lot to scale up for.
SOPHIA SPACE
Orbital data centers and in-orbit computing are some of the buzziest topics in satellite right now, and Sophia Space has an interesting technology to bring to this market. Sophia Space has developed the Thermal integrated LEO Edge, known as TILE compute modules, a passive thermal shedding technology for in-orbit computing that doesn’t require a physical heat pump. The company is taking a “crawl, walk, run” philosophy to deploying orbital data centers by building its business on edge computing technology. It is progressing toward an in-orbit computing demonstration mission in 2027, selecting an Apex Space Nova satellite bus for the mission.
The team behind Sophia Space includes Dr. Leon Alkalai, a former NASA JPL tech fellow and founder of Mandala Space Ventures. The company’s CEO Rob DeMillo has a unique background for a space executive. While he started his career in aerospace he went on to have a long career in media and then cloud computing – bringing an interesting software perspective to the orbital data center discussion. Sophia Space is working with notable partners Armada and Kepler Communications and has secured funding from the recently launched Nvidia alumni investor network called EverGreen. Its edge computing is aimed at enabling satellites to make decisions autonomously, which can be applicable for missions in national defense, disaster management, EO, and commercial operations, and it’s one to watch in the area of orbital data centers and in-orbit computing.
SPACEFLUX
As space becomes increasingly congested and contested, space intelligence is only becoming more critical for governments around the world. London-based space intelligence firm Spaceflux has become a leader in this area in recent years after it was founded in 2022. The company operates around 15 electro-optical ground-based telescopes, combined with its AI-driven Cortex analytics platform to track and characterize satellites and debris day or night, across all orbital regimes.
The company received an important vote of confidence from the U.K. government in late 2025 by securing all three multi-year space surveillance and tracking contracts under the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) framework. At the time, leadership noted this was a major step to becoming an operational partner in the U.K.’s national security. Its success has gone beyond the U.K. and has been crisscrossing the globe with partnerships. The company is working with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation to address demand for space safety and resilience in Japan, with MDA Space on a Canadian space surveillance program; as well as working with the NATO DIANA accelerator program. Recently in April, the company raised a seed extension round, bringing its total funding to 9 million pounds ($12 million). The strength of its global partnerships indicate its impact will be more than just a sovereign partner for the U.K. government, to enable responsible space operations around the world. VS
